This research applied insights from terror management theory (TMT; Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon,
1986) to the world of sport. According to TMT, self-esteem buffers against the potential for death anxiety.
Because sport allows people to attain self-esteem, reminders of death may improve performance in sport. In
Study 1, a mortality salience induction led to improved performance in a “one-on-one” basketball game. In
Study 2, a subtle death prime led to higher scores on a basketball shooting task, which was associated with
increased task-related self-esteem. These results may promote our understanding of sport and provide a novel
potential way to improve athletic performance.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/622838 |
| Date | 10 1900 |
| Creators | Zestcott, Colin A., Lifshin, Uri, Helm, Peter, Greenberg, Jeff |
| Contributors | Department of Psychology, University of Arizona |
| Publisher | HUMAN KINETICS PUBL INC |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article |
| Rights | © 2016 Human Kinetics, Inc. |
| Relation | http://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/10.1123/jsep.2016-0025 |
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